


The Tarot Reader

by Knockie



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-06
Packaged: 2018-08-19 16:45:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8217557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knockie/pseuds/Knockie
Summary: J. Daniel Atlas is a great magician. But every great hero has a dark past. What happens when that past catches up to him?





	1. Chapter 1

J. Daniel Atlas was not merely speaking to a crowd. No, the crowd hung onto every word he said. When he opened his arms wide, they gaped at the cards dancing across his fingertips. They ooed and ahed and were completely enthranced in his performance.

And he happily played them like a fiddle.

This was what he loved about performing. He needed the crowd. He craved their attention. And when he finally made his last move, he revelled in their joy. Joy he brought to them. That was the real magic behind magic.

Right now, he was standing in a rather big crowd on the streets on New York. People have always loved his shows, but now that he was known as a Horsemen, there was no end to the throng of people wanting to see his magic. 

He readied the cards for his grand ending. He shuffled them and, looking into as many pairs of eyes as possible, whilst saying his famous words, "The more you think you see..."

As he gleefully heard the audience finish his words, his world stopped. The clapping of the people slowed down, as his eyes fixated on a young woman with light brown hair. Her eyes were staring right into his, as she gave a barely visible nod. She then pulled a grey baseball cap over onto her head, turned and disappeared. Time picked up again.

It was her. Frantically, he looked around, but the masses of people had already swallowed her up.

People looked at him expectantly. His trick.

"Now... Don't.. Don't look too closely," he stammered, having lost his concentration.

He threw his deck into the air and took a step aside. The space where he had been standing showed a Heart 10 card drawn in chalk, the exact same card his volunteer had picked.

"Good night, New York!" he yelled, as he pulled up his hoodie and tried to disappear into the crowd as well. He made his way to the point where she had been standing. On the floor was a tiny spoon, about the size of half a finger, the type you would find in a doll house.

"Charly," he breathed as he looked around, hoping he might find her again. She was gone though.

He pocketed the spoon and ran to the nearest subway station. He knew where she was going.

~~~

It was night. His performances were always at night, but by the time he made it to the amusement park, it was after 3 AM and the park was closed. The locked gate did not stop him though. He could have picked the lock, Jack had taught him well, but he was still slow doing it and he did not want to waste any more time. Placing one foot on the metallic ornament on the gate, he quickly scaled it and jumped over.

He hasn't been here in years. Atlas ran past the autodrome stand, blinking in the empty night, and rounded a corner after the small ferris wheel.

He thought he caught a glimpse of that light hair of hers.

"Charly!" he yelled, running faster. He couldn't stop himself now. "Charlene!!"

He turned to the right and stopped right in front of the dollhouse. They had loved the dollhouse when they were children. Charlene was scared to bits every single time, but being the stubborn little tomboy she was, she always wanted to go a second time, but only if holding the hand of her older brother.

The door to the dollhouse was locked, so he pounded on it with both of his fists, all the while screaming her name.

After several minutes, he let his hands drop and his forehead rest on the door.

"Danny?" came a quiet voice from behind him.

He whirled around, his back now facing the door and met her eyes.

"This can't be real," he whispered in shock.

The shock did not paralyze him however, so he quickly closed the short distance between them and crushed a hug around her.

She fiercely returned the hug and he felt her body shaking along with her sobs. After a while, he pulled her at arms length to look into her eyes.

"It really is you. How can that be, Charly? You were dead."


	2. The Moon

Charlene Ember Atlas had her freezing fingers dug into her brother's hoodie. The worry and confusion in his eyes was tinted with doubt. She could see the questions burning behind his brown irises. Questions he most likely could not even put into words.

She was back. He was there. She should have had a massive grin on her face and joy in her heart. Instead her face was stained with tears and her heart was heavy. She has returned for a reason. She had to protect him.

"Danny, I..," she tried again, "There are things you must know."

A sparkle returned to his eyes. "I don't remember you being so cryptic," he teased. He enunciated each word in that typical cut off way of his and it brought a shy smile to her face.

"I'm not dead." Charlene said as if that explained their whole situation. It didn't. He waited. Neither of them has ever been a patient person. Him waiting for her to speak meant it was serious. Of course it was serious, dummy, she thought, he thought you were dead.

She took a shaky breath, then continued, "I did get shot. What you saw, that part was real. They told me I could not leave. Whenever I tried, they... But..." her speaking tempo picked up and her words fell out of her mouth like a waterfall, "After a while, I liked it there. They taught me things. I missed you so much, but it was not a bad existence and then I found out you were chosen by the Eye. They have a trap set up for you guys. Don't do a show in Berlin. Please. Promise me!"

There was a moment of silence between them. The empty amusement park seemed to echo the quiet and throw it at them tenfolds.

"Sorry, what?"

He did not understand. He was confused. But why? She has told him everything. Danger. Berlin. She was gone. What was so hard to understand? "The Moon, they have a trap," she started.

There was a sound to their left. Someone was very careful to stay quiet, but a dog's claw gave him away.

Charlene's hand grabbed the door handle of the Dollhouse behind Daniel and pulled. There was a hardly audible plop and a wooden trap door opened next to the siblings.

"Danny," she whispered, "get in there. Wait 120 seconds, then leave. Remember, no show in Berlin."

With that she gave him a push towards the trap door. He climbed in without protest, but confusion was etched in his face.  
"I missed you so much," she whispered as she closed the door.  
"Wait, you aren't comi..." She didn't hear the rest of his panicked question. 

Charlene turned around slowly to face her. She who had shot and taken her some 4 years ago. Dione stepped out of the shadows. Accompanied by her trusty dog, or as Charly thought of it: the Hellhound.

Dione clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

"My sweet Rhea," Dione referred to her Moon name, given to her in the monastery when she was first taken, "It is such a clichée to return to the place where it all started, don't you think?"

She gestured with her right hand, nails polished a blood red, whilst her right held a gun. The Hellhound had no leash. It didn't need one. It was always an especially good dog right before it got the order to attack. Somehow it must be able to feel the tension in the air, the anticipation of Dione.

"Dione. I'm glad you're here," Charlene lied. "I'm not ready yet. Take me back. Please," she added in a defeated voice.

Dione chuckled sweetly.

"The Moon has chosen you, my darling Rhea. The cards say you're ready. I've merely come to collect you. Duty calls," she declared.

With that she turned around, expecting the Hellhound and Charly to follow her. Both did, but Charly turned her head around to look at the closed trapdoor.

"One hundred sixteen. One hundred seventeen." she mouthed to herself. Then they were gone.


End file.
